The Anchorage School Board voted Tuesday night to close two elementary schools next year.
In a 5-2 vote, the board opted to close Lake Hood and Nunaka Valley elementary schools as part of the district’s plan to more efficiently educate a dwindling number of students. Members Pat Higgins and Kelly Lessens voted against the plan.
The board initially considered closing four schools, but passed amendments Tuesday to remove Baxter and Fire Lake elementary school from the list of closures. An amendment sponsored by Lessens to remove Lake Hood from the list failed.
Dozens of parents, students and teachers showed up to protest the school closure plan.
Vanessa Chico has two daughters who attend Baxter Elementary, one of the schools on the closure list when the board took public testimony. Both of Chico’s daughters testified, and 7-year-old Cassia Chico proudly displayed a petition to save Baxter with signatures of classmates she had gathered on loose notebook papers. Vanessa Chico told the board her family was considering moving away, but chose to stay to keep their children at Baxter.
“A deciding factor was that we love our community and Baxter is a community school,” Chico said. “It would be detrimental to the children if it were to close and we have conversations about social and emotional well-being and I just don't see a situation where splitting up all of these kids is what’s best for them.”
District enrollment has dropped by almost 6,000 students since 2010, and three schools have closed in that time. Last month, district leaders’ original “right-sizing” plan proposed closing seven elementary schools. Over the last month and a half, the district held informational meetings at several schools across Anchorage to gather input from parents.
Board member Pat Higgins said he values Baxter’s capacity to absorb students from Nunaka Valley and reduce the overcrowding at Chester Valley.
“It means a lot to those kids, it means a lot for parental involvement, for academics, everything about it is a doable solution without moving it out," he said. "There are ways to move things in and to accomplish what you want to accomplish, so for me it doesn't make sense."
Lake Hood and Nunaka Valley will close at the end of the school year, and the district will offer those buildings to existing charter schools.
The board also passed an amendment that calls on Superintendent Jharrett Bryantt to recommend another school for consolidation or closure by next October.
District administrators say the school closures are not meant as a cost-cutting measure. Other Alaska districts are also considering closing or consolidating schools. The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District will release a list of five schools recommended for closure next month.
